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Action for damages for illegally deporting people and violating fundamental rights

Topic

19 January 2022

Court: EU General Court

• Lawyers: Flip Schüller, Marieke van Eik and Lisa-Marie Komp, Prakken d'Oliveira
• Submitted: October 2021
• Status: Ongoing

Summary of the legal action:

An action for damages was launched against Frontex in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in October 2021, over its role in an incident of refoulement. The incident is also the basis of a case against Greece. Linked to the case is the Not on our Border Watch campaign by the Dutch Council for Refugees, BKB, Sea-Watch Legal Aid Fund, Jungle Minds, and Prakken D’Oliveria. The campaign invites EU citizens to contact European Commissioner Ylva Johansson to ask the Commission to:

“stop member states and Frontex violating the Common European Asylum System…to take the necessary steps to end these abuses of asylum seekers by Frontex, and uphold the rule of law”.

Main grounds for the action:

• A return operation was conducted before any real access to the Greek asylum procedure;
• The mistreatment of the claimants, in particular the children, while on the return flight; and
• The absence of a return decision.

See:

EU agency Frontex charged with illegal pushbacks; Prakken d'Oliveira

Not on our border watch: Stop border atrocities by the EU and Frontex